Projectile and bomb combined



R. L. WRIGHT.

PROJECTILE AND BOMB corvlBlNEp.-

APPLlCAlON FILED MAY 20, *1918.2

Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

@E H @N a (m WN. NN. MN A ll ll UNITED ST PATENT ROBERT LEE WRIGHT, OF'LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

PROJ ECTILE A N D BOMB COMBINED.

To all whom t may concern.'

a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the countyof- Los Angeles and State of `California, have invented new and usefulImprovements in a Projectile and Bomb Combined, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention is a modified form of my inventions filed in the UnitedStates Patent Ofiiee on Februaryv 23rd 1918, Serial Numbers 218,796 and218,797, and relates to shells, projectiles, cartridges, and bombs andparticularly to explosive shells, with or without bombs in the shellpointers or attenuated nose. Vhen I mention projectile hereinafter inthis specification it also means shells and cartridges, and when 1hereinafter mention shell-pointer it means the long slim attenuated nosewith or without bombs land explosives in them, although I have namedthem shell-pointers, I do not limit myself to any particular shape,size, thickness or length of the long slim shell-pointer, or the largepart of the projectile, or the large part of the projectile and bombscombined, and I do not limit myself to any particular shape or size ofthe bombs and explosives in the shell-pointers, and 1 do not limitmyself to any number of bombs in the shell-pointers, there may be manyof them or all of the shell-pointers wherever any room is to be had inthem may be filled with explosives, as desired. This projectile with thebombs orl explosives in the shellpointer will make more than one hitwith one shot if the springs on the electric firing pins that explodesthe bomb are made stronger than the spring on the electric tiring pinthat explodes the bomb in front of it, and the shell-pointer may also becreased between the bombs in a way such that they will break off easilyas the -projectile goes forward, thus making a plurality of hits at oneshot or a long string of ,explosions when the point of the shell-pointerstrikes the object or the ground. The projectile and bombs or explosivesin the shell-pointer to explode in the air before striking the groundand allows all of the explosives to scatter freely instead of explodinglying on the ground and making a great waste of explosives by the chargegoing into the ground and. confining the explosions to a small space aslthe old style way of exploding a projectile or bomb does. Theseshell-pointers Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 12, V1921.

Application filed May 20, 1918. Serial No. 235,482.

' may be used to explode any' kind of a bomb in the saine way before thebomb hits the ground and they are used in the saine way in exploding allexplosive projectiles with or without bombs and explosives in theshellpointers. Other objects of my invention are for the long slimshell-pointer to be made a suitable length and thickness aecordin r tothe sr/,e of the shell or projectile t0 scatter the air or water as theAcase may be and allow the large part of the projectile to go forwardwithout coming in contact with the great air or water pressure i usuallydriven 'before av projectile, thus causing my projectile to goat agreater speed and go a greater distance and hit harder und penetrateinto and through the object hit whether it be air, water, or solidobject hit, thereby making the explosions more damaging. One more objectis to so construct the projectile that when the shell-pointer strikesthe water Aat any angle it will not ricochet or rebound but will dive orsubnierge at the place it vstrikes the water and will keep its coursereinvention consists in the novel details of construction andcombination of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularlypointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of tliisspecification, in which h ke numerals designate like parts in all theviews,

ligure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View showing my projectile havingan electric j fuse in the shell'pointer or nose for firing the device onimpact.

Fig. 2 shoivs a longitudinal cross sectional View of a modification. l

Figs. 3 and 4 show details of the wiring.

4As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the

projectile body is indicated at 1. rihe body 1 is provided with a longslim shell pointer for the purpose of enabling the said body to morereadily 'penetrate the air, water or othermaterial with which it comesin contact. l

A shell pointer of the type set forth may be used on various projectilesregardless of their size or construction, it being noted that the longattenuation will enable the point to pierce at almost any angle at whichthe shell strikes.

The size of the shell or shell pointer and the kind of shell used withmy device are A ber may be employed.

not limited and it may be used with either solid non-explosive orexplosive shells.`

The removable and slidable -point of the shell pointer isA indicated at2,-and 3 indr.

Vis indicated at 10.

Current is led from the contact at 10 through wires 12 to the electriccap or detonator 14. The operation of the device fof' Fig. 1 is asfollows: l/Vhen the end of the slidable point of the shell pointer 2 isstruck or strikes an object it moves back compressing the spring 9 andthe switch 8 closes the circuit' through the contact 10 causing theelectric cap 111 to fire the explosive 13. The shell 1 is provided witha suitable base plug 15 as shown.

In Fig. 2, which shows a modification ofmy device as shown in Fig. 1,the projectile proper, with explosives in the shell-pointer and likeFig. 1, it applies to all explosives and non explosive projectiles fromthe smallest to the largest inclusive, is shown at 16. 17 indicates theexplosives, held in place by the base plug 15. An electric fuse is shownat 18, and 19 refers to wires which lead from the fuse'or contact 2O tothe [iring device 18. A circuit closer is indicated at 21, vmounted inthe end of the shell pointer. rlhis last mentioned circuit closer is forthe purpose of completing the circuit through the contact 2O when theshell pointer is screwed into the end of the pro jectile as shown. Theshell pointer in the present modification comprises an extensioncarrying one or more bombs; in the present instance two are shown, butthis is only by way of illustration, as any desired num- The stem of thepointer is indicated at 23, and 24 is the electric iring cap which firesthe explosive 26 in bomb 27. The wires for the firing circuit are shownat 25. The stem or shell pointer may be creased or kerfed as shown at28, if it is desired to make the shell pointer weaker or more easilybroken between the bombs than at other points, so that a plurality ofhits may be made with one shot. When shot the shell pointer if creasedas shown at 28 will break and a better result be attained If a singlehit only is desired, l do not crease or kerf the shell pointer. lf onland, it will do a large amount of damage on account of the large amountof space the ex- Lerares plosions cover at one shot; and if it strikesthe Water when fired at a ship, it will-keep its course. lf fired at theside of a ship it will take a long space out of the side of the ship,thus making one shot do the work of many. More hits maybe registeredwith this projectile and bomb combined than can be made with otherprojectiles.

An electric cap for firing the explosive in the foremost bomb isindicated at 29. The explosive is shown at 30 in the bomb 32. A contactis indicated at 31 adapted to be closed by the fuse or switch 33 in theend of the slidable point 3e. A collar is depicted at 35, and 36 is acap therefor. batter for firing is indicated at 37. 38 is the slidablepoint. A spring 34 serves to hold the slidable point of the shellpointer from coming in contact'with the electric fuse 31.

lft will be noted that in both forms shown the shell pointers may bevery easily removed from the shells by unscrewing the pointers at 11 and22 as shown in the drawlng.

The operation of the device of Fig. 2 will be clear from the descriptionof parts taken in connection with the description of the operation ofthe device of Fig. 1. 'I reserve the right to use any of the well knowntime devices' to explode my projectiles and bombs in any way and at anytime that I desire todo so.

' lt is obvious that those skilled inthe art may vary the details of theconstruction as ,well as the arrangement of parts Without departing fromthe spirit Vof the invention, and therefore, l do not wish to be limitedto the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

lVhat l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is z" 1. lna projectile, a slender rod extending from the nose, a plurality ofbombs mounted on said rod in spaced relation and means forsimultaneously igniting said bombs upon engagement with the target.

2. ln a projectile, a slender rod extending from the nose thereof, aplurality of substantially ovoid bombs arranged in spaced relation uponthe rod, and means for simultaneously discharging said bombs uponengagement of the projectile with the target.

3. ln a proj ect-ile, a relatively long slender rod extending from thenose having portions of the slender rod enlarged to form chargereceiving bombs substantially ovoid in outline, a member movably mbuntedin the outermost bomb and means operable upon engagement of said memberwith a target to simultaneously discharge said bombs,

el. projectile and bomb combined, a suitable cavity to hold an explosivecharge within the projectile and within the bomb, an explosive chargewithin the cavity of the projectile and the cavity of the bomb, saidbomb being larger in circumference in the center and sloping from thecenter in a way to form a -point at each end of the bomb, ashell-pointer mounted in the forward end of the bomb and extending outof the front end of the bomb, a slidable point with means to hold samein position mounted on the forward end of the shell-pointer, and meansto ignite the explosive charge in both the projectile and bomb when theslidable point mounted in the forward end of the shellpointer comes inContact with the ground, object or target.

' 5. A projectile having a suitable cavity within to l'iold an explosivecharge, a point thereon, and a charge of explosives within the cavity, athreaded opening in the point of the projectile suitable to recess oneend of a shell-pointer and av removable shellpointer composed of aplurality of parts longitudinally mounted in' the point of theprojectile, a removable and slid-able point mounted longitudinally inthe forward end of the shell-pointer, an electric battery mounted in theslidable point, two pairs of contacts, one of same being movablewithishe slidable point and the other stationarily' mounted and wiringconnecting said contacts -with the fuse and battery whereby inwardmovement of the slidable point will cause engagementbetween the contactsto complete a circuit through the fuse and ignite the explosive chargewithin the cavity of the projectile when the slidable point mounted inthe forward .end of the shellpointer comes in contact with the ground,objectvor target.

6. A projectile having a suitable cavity within to hold an explosivecharge, a point thereon, and a charge of explosives within the cavity, arod with a longitudinal channel therein, one end being screwed into athreaded opening in the point of the projectile and the forward end ofthe rod extending out from. the point ofthe projectile, a plurality ofbombs formed in spaced relation upon the rod, each containing a cavitywithin, an explosive charge within the cavity of each bomb, ashell-pointer composed of a plurality of parts with a longitudinalchannel therein, one end being screwed into a threaded opening in thepoint of the Anost forward bomb, and `the forward end of theshellpointer extending out from the point of the bomb, a removable andslidable point with means to hold same in position longitudinallymounted in the Vforward end of the shell-pointer, an electric batterymounted in the slidable point, two pairs of contacts, one of same beingmovable with the slidable point and the other stationarilyy mounted andwiring connecting said contacts with the fuse and electric batterywhereby inward movement of slidable point will cause the engagementbetween the contacts to complete a circuit through the fuse and ignitethe explosive charge within the cavity of each bomb and projectile whenthe slidable point mounted in the forward end of the shell-pointer comesin contact with the ground, object or target.

7. A projectile having a suitable cavity within, to hold an explosivec-harge, a point thereon, and a charge of explosives within the cavity,a threaded opening in the point of the projectile and a shell pointercomposed of a plurality of parts with a longitudinal channel` thereinwith one end screwed into the threaded opening in the point of theprojectile and the forward end of the shell pointer extending out fromthe point of the projectile, a removable and slidable pointlongitudinally mounted in the forward end of the shell pointer and meansengageable by the slidable point to ignite the explosive charge withinthe cavity of the projectile by percussion when the slidable pointmounted in lthe forward end of the shell-pointer comes in contact withthe ground, object or target.

8. A projectile having a charge therein, a fuse located within thecharge, a relatively long slender rod extending from the nose of theprojectile, a plurality of bombs arranged along the rod, a movablemember in the outermost bomb, a source of current and wiring connectingthe bombs in parallel and connected with a fuse, and means operable uponengagement of the movable member with a target to complete a circuitthrough said bomb and fuse to simultaneously ignite the chargescontained therein.

9. An ordnance shellhaving a projection secured to the forward endthereof'extend-- ing axially and formed with a longitudinal bore incombination with a plurality of cavities larger in circumference thanthe longitudinal bore and in alinement and communicating with said borewithin said projection, explosive within each of said cavities and meansto ignite said explosive within each of said cavities within saidprojection.

l0. An ordnance shell having a projection secured to the forward endthereof extending axially and formed with a longitudinal bore incombination 'with a cavity larger in circumference than saidlongitudinal bore and in alinement and communicating with said borewithin said projection, explosive within said cavity and means to ignitesaid explosive within said cavity withinsaid proj ection.

11. i An ordnance shell having a projection secured to the forward endand formed with a longitudinal bore in combination with a contactignitin means, having a cavity with a detonating c arge larger incircumference than said longitudinal bore and said cavity in alinementwith the bore and at the n: part a similar oletonating4 charge in opetive relation and communicating with and". in alinementwith theexplosive charge in the shell.

l2. An ordnane shell having a projection secured to the foi-Ward end andformed with a longitudinal bore'in combination Willa a Contact ignitingmeans, having a cavity Wieli 10 a detonating Charge laige' ineircumferenoe in the center and sloping from the center to thelongitudinal bore at each end, and said cavity in. alinelnent with thebore and at the year part a similar d etonating charge in operativerelation and communicating with and in alinelnent with the explosivecharge .le shell.

i testimony whereof, have hereunto sa; my, hand.

ROBERT LEE WRIGHT.

